You'll die laughing

Written By Jacob Rajan & Justin Lewis

Tickets on sale now!

Commissioned by the prestigious South Coast Repertory Theatre based in Orange County, this deliciously dark comedy with bite sees a gang of death-row convicts set free from Auburn Prison for one wild night to tell the tragic tale of their hero, the man who invented the electric chair.

Based on a true story, the play speaks of a divided world where faith is more powerful than fact and shame drives a hard bargain. The fictional injection of real Indian scientist Chandra Bose, whose world-leading research into electricity was ahead of its time, gives an Indian Ink twist to the telling. Presented in dynamic vaudevillian style; a variety show performance form popular in 1890s America where this story is set, Welcome to the Murder House features comedy, puppetry, live music, song and dance to entertain and delight whilst recounting a powerful, tragic and moving tale.

Jacob Rajan returns to the stage with a stellar cast, accompanied by David Ward and band in Indian Ink’s biggest ever extravaganza. Experience a night of naughty fun that will leave you to decide who the real villains are.

Show contains explicit language, sexual references and images of death.

from Saturday 26 May 2018

Wellington - Te Auaha

Private Show Information

What do you get?

The Company brings lighting, set, costumes, and props to your selected venue (e.g. home or office) to create a truly magical occasion for your invited audience.
There is no limit to the number of guests you can invite - as long as there's enough space for them and the performers. The Artists are Arts Laureate Jacob Rajan and talented young
musician Adam Ogle, supported by our stage manager who will ensure that all technical and production elements happen without a hiccup. The performance lasts 80 minutes and as an added bonus,
if you wish it, Jacob is happy to chat with your guests after the show.

What does it cost?

The all-inclusive fee for this wonderul and unforgettable experience is only NZ$6,500 including GST.

Cast & Crew

Jacob Rajan

Jacob Rajan

Company Director, Writer & Performer

Jacob is an Arts Foundation Laureate and founding partner of Indian Ink. He collaborated to create Krishnan’s Dairy, The Candlestickmaker, The Pickle King, The Dentist’s Chair, The Guru of Chai and Kiss the Fish and has performed them throughout New Zealand and internationally.

Jacob won “Best Actor” in the 2010 Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards for ‘The Guru of Chai’. He has also received an accolade for acting excellence and was nominated for the Stage Award for Best Actor at the Edinburgh Fringe. Jacob has featured on New Zealand TV series (Outrageous Fortune and Shortland Street). In 2013 Jacob was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in the New Year’s Honours List.

Jacob’s family originates in Kerala, Southern India. He was born in Malaysia and immigrated to New Zealand at the age of four. Jacob has a degree in microbiology, a teacher’s diploma and is a graduate of Toi Whakaari – The New Zealand Drama School.

Quentin Warren

Quentin Warren

Quentin Warren relocated to New Zealand from Los Angeles in 2017 to explore theater internationally and connect with artists with an alternative world view. You may have seen him in the Lucy Lawless immersive extravaganza Pleasuredome the Musical and now he joins us here for Welcome to Murder House. Quentin obtained a BFA in acting at Howard University in Washington D.C. and then an MFA in producing for theater and film from California Institute of the Arts. “I’ve learned so much in my travels and I’m super excited for all that I will learn from the wonderful group of artists at Indian Ink.”

Jacque Drew

Jacque Drew

Jacque is an award-winning American actress, who has resided in NZ for 14 years. This year she became a New Zealand citizen.

Her most recent work includes both the Auckland and Melbourne seasons with the Pop Up Globe, playing Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing and the Duke of Venice in Othello. She has performed with the Auckland Theatre Company (Maria in Twelfth Night and Mae in Cat on a Hot Tim Roof); Silo Theatre (Edith in The Women, Sam in Some Girls and Violet in Suddenly Last Summer).

She has also worked at The Fortune Theatre Company (Sara in Time Stands Still and ensemble in My First Time) and Circa Theatre (Lindsay in Some Girls), as well as performed in independent productions (Truvy in Steel Magnolias, Roberta in Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, ensemble in the Vagina Monologues, Sue in Abigail’s Party and Edward/Betty in Cloud 9). Her screen work includes Shortland Street, The Brokenwood Mysteries, Ash vs. Evil Dead and the Chronicles of Shanarra.

Prior to her arrival in New Zealand Jacque worked as a professional actor, teacher and director for over 25 years. She is currently the co-director of Aspiring Young Actors (AYA) Drama school. And is a proud member of Actors Equity.

Patrick Carroll

Patrick Carroll

Performer

Patrick Carroll is a graduate of Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama school.Prior to his study he worked with Long Cloud Youth Theatre and travelled to London’s Globe Theatre as part of the Young Shakespeare Company with Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand. During his years at Toi he trained in Paris at L’Ecole Phillipe Gaulier.

While studying he played in Strindberg’s A Dreamplay and Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure & As You Like It. He played Thomas Klopper in Silo Theatre’s The Book of Everything in 2015/2016, and over those years also performed in The Court Theatre’s Alice and Wonderland, Bright Orange Walls’ productions of The Angry Brigade and Twelfth Night and toured the country with Indian Ink’s The Elephant Thief.

Most recently he played in Pop Up Globe’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream as Demetrius and The Merchant of Venice as Lorenzo. He can be seen next in TVNZ’s Kiwi playing New Zealand jockey Jimmy Cassidy.

Patrick is excited to be working again with Indian Ink to bring this frightening and fascinating historical account to the stage.

Matt Chameberlain

Matt Chameberlain

WRITER/ACTOR

Toi Whakaari Graduate 1992. Matt has worked extensively as an actor for the past 25 years. Highlights for him thus far are 5 years as Shortland Street core cast member Murray Cooper, Jeff on In My Fathers Den and Frank in Hook Line and Sinker.

Matt also devised and co-wrote his award-winning solo show The Anthony Wilding Story based on the life of the New Zealand 4 time Wimbledon winner. He has toured the show extensively and in 2003 he took the show to England and performed it for the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club at Wimbledon.

Matt loves being involved in telling New Zealand stories and has acted in premiere productions of Nga Tangata Toa at Taki Rua, Kikia Te Po at Bats and Up North at Centrepoint.

Most recently he has been involved in the sell-out season of Think of a Garden at Nathan Homestead Manurewa, In Dark Places The Teina Pora Story and in the telefeature Jean.

Eamon Edmundson-Wells

Eamon Edmundson-Wells

Music has been part of Eamon’s life since he was a young child. Throughout the years he has played guitar, recorder, trumpet, double and electric bass, keyboard, and home-made electronic music making doodads in more shows and contexts than he can remember. This journey has opened doors to playing with some of New Zealand’s most successful musicians, and international touring artists. New projects are always underway, and always represent a chance to explore new avenues for making music. Like all working musicians, he dabbles in many different genres and approaches to music, some drenched in improvisation and freedom, others in stylistic integrity and faithful reproduction. However, regardless of the approach there is always an opportunity to focus on the things that are important in music; sound, texture, rhythm, harmony, connectivity between humans, and finding peace in the process of creating.

Sean Martin-Buss

Sean Martin-Buss

Justin Lewis

Justin Lewis

Company Director, Writer & Artistic Director

Justin is a founding partner of Indian Ink and collaborated with Jacob Rajan to create the company’s works: Krishnan’s Dairy, The Candlestickmaker, The Pickle King, The Dentist’s Chair, Guru of Chai and Kiss the Fish. Indian Ink’s productions have won numerous awards including two Edinburgh Fringe First Awards and Three production of the Year Awards in New Zealand. Justin has produced numerous national and international tours. He is Deputy Chair of Q Theatre and has been heavily involved in its development from the beginning. In 2008 he received a Kaupapa Oranga Award for his services to theatre. Justin is a graduate of the John Bolton Theatre School and University of Auckland.

Jacob Rajan

Jacob Rajan

Company Director, Writer & Performer

Jacob is an Arts Foundation Laureate and founding partner of Indian Ink. He collaborated to create Krishnan’s Dairy, The Candlestickmaker, The Pickle King, The Dentist’s Chair, The Guru of Chai and Kiss the Fish and has performed them throughout New Zealand and internationally.

Jacob won “Best Actor” in the 2010 Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards for ‘The Guru of Chai’. He has also received an accolade for acting excellence and was nominated for the Stage Award for Best Actor at the Edinburgh Fringe. Jacob has featured on New Zealand TV series (Outrageous Fortune and Shortland Street). In 2013 Jacob was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in the New Year’s Honours List.

Jacob’s family originates in Kerala, Southern India. He was born in Malaysia and immigrated to New Zealand at the age of four. Jacob has a degree in microbiology, a teacher’s diploma and is a graduate of Toi Whakaari – The New Zealand Drama School.

Murray Edmond

Murray Edmond

Dramaturg

Murray has been dramaturg on all of Indian Ink’s productions. A poet and founder of Town and Country players (NZ), Murray has recently retired from his role as Professor of Drama at Auckland University where he headed the Drama course.

John Verryt

John Verryt

Set & Costume Design

John has worked on all of Indian Ink’s productions to date. With over 30 years experience he is one of New Zealand’s leading performance designers with an extensive portfolio of work including designs for NBR New Zealand Opera, Black Grace Dance Company, Douglas Wright and Auckland Theatre Company.

Jane Hakaraia

Jane Hakaraia

Lighting Designer

A designer with a degree in product design but her first and longest love is lighting for theatre. This year Jane has toured Daffodils with Bullet Heart Club, designed the set for a TV game show, lit Hikoi for Auckland Arts Festival and Eight Gigabytes for Silo Theatre and is currently working on a veggie garden for Aotea square.

Elizabeth Whiting

Elizabeth Whiting

Background
Elizabeth has designed costumes for New Zealand Opera, Auckland Theatre Company, NZ Festival and Auckland Festival, Silo, Court Theatre, Red Leap and Okareka Dance, Black Grace, Douglas Wright Dance, Michael Parmenter, Atimira, NZ Dance Company and the Royal New Zealand Ballet. She designed costumes for Pop-Up Theatre London for Edinburgh Festival.

Elizabeth has designed the costumes for The World of Wearable Art core show in Wellington for the last six years.

Awards
In 2010 she won the Chapman Tripp Costume Design Award for The Arrival. (Red Leap). She represented New Zealand at the Prague Design Quadrennial in 2003 with her costumes for ‘Falstaff’, and again in 2007 with a team of designers who created the exhibition Blow. Her designs for Marriage of Figaro have just been seen in Seattle and her costume designs for Tosca in Perth had a great reception.
Elizabeth designed Bonefeeder (Auckland Festival), Uncle Vanya (Court Theatre), Kororareka (Red Leap), Spirit House (Nightsong Productions), Kiss the Sky (NZDC) and Nell Gwynn (ATC) in 2017. She also designed Blonde Poison (Plumb Productions) and Orchids (Foster Group).
Hudson and Halls Live, The Mooncake and the Kumara, and Te Po are three shows which were successfully remounted last year using her costume designs.

Elizabeth has designed Under the Mountain (ATC) this year and is in the process of designing The Cherry Orchard (ATC) and La Boheme (NZ Opera)

Aaron Paap

Aaron Paap

PRODUCTION & STAGE MANAGER 2018

Aaron has worked in the Theatre and Arts industry for 15 years on numerous productions and for venues across New Zealand. Recently he has taken on projects such as Te Po presented by Nightsong, and Technical Manager for the Maidment Arts Centre.

Bala Murali Shingade

Bala Murali Shingade

Ankita Singh

Ankita Singh

Ankita has recently graduated from AUT with a Bachelor in Communication Studies and is ready to take on the world armed with a passion for the arts and a copious amount of caffeine. Ankita is a multi-disciplinary photographer and filmmaker specialising in digital media. She worked as the Marketing Intern for Indian Ink in 2017, producing the marketing campaign for “Mrs Krishnan’s Party” and is back as Concept Designer for “Welcome to the Murder House”.

Sehej Khurana

Sehej Khurana

Agustya Chandra

Agustya Chandra

Recently finishing a Bachelor of Commerce, Agustya is an actor, dancer, and choreographer. He has experience in theatre productions and has been dancing for eight years, having performed around Auckland, shot dance covers, and a Warehouse commercial. A big gym junkie, he has recently started learning Kung Fu.